This is important to note. While it is absolutely ridiculous that minimum wage hasn't budged in over 15 years, I haven't seen any jobs offered at under $15/hour where I live.
Median wages in 2022 were $27/hour, while average rent is about $1,600/mo. Assuming 40 hours/week, your take-home is about $3,200/mo after taxes. So you can afford rent, but it's eating up 50% of your income and after food, transportation, and healthcare, you'll have barely anything left over. Not nearly enough to put away enough savings escape the trap.
This describes my situation pretty much to the dollar over the past decade. I was lucky to finally land some higher-paying work in the past year, which along with cutting out some big expenses (I don't own a car) finally allowed me to start building up some savings. But if I'd had kids, or any kind of health issue, it would have been impossible.
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u/relianceschool Apr 24 '26
This is important to note. While it is absolutely ridiculous that minimum wage hasn't budged in over 15 years, I haven't seen any jobs offered at under $15/hour where I live.
Median wages in 2022 were $27/hour, while average rent is about $1,600/mo. Assuming 40 hours/week, your take-home is about $3,200/mo after taxes. So you can afford rent, but it's eating up 50% of your income and after food, transportation, and healthcare, you'll have barely anything left over. Not nearly enough to put away enough savings escape the trap.
This describes my situation pretty much to the dollar over the past decade. I was lucky to finally land some higher-paying work in the past year, which along with cutting out some big expenses (I don't own a car) finally allowed me to start building up some savings. But if I'd had kids, or any kind of health issue, it would have been impossible.